It has been my experience that ribbon tweeters can sometimes be on the bright side. But i have never heard the AZ's. I might advise electronics on the mid to 'mellower' end of the spectrum. Something more in line with the 'British' style house sound. 

I do like the D'Appolito MTM arrangement, however. My own speakers are of the same configuration & provide excellent staging & imaging. However, there are many factors at play at any one time. Not knowing the details of your room & associated equipment make specific recommendations difficult. Seeing that they are rated at 6 ohm would lend me to think something towards the the more robust end of the power spectrum would be appropriate. Bryston comes first to mind.

enjoy your hunt,

Bill

norma wrote:

I'm leaning toward buying some Acoustic Zen Adagios in the near future and I'm wondering what preamp/amp combination would match up well. I'm looking into either a Luxman combo or the Crayons. I'm also thinking a tubed preamp matched with a solid state amp. I haven't demo'd anything yet though. Any thoughts about the matchup? Any other suggestions in that price range? And I don't know the room size yet because we're building a new house.

Thanks.

I am using an Audio Research LS-26 preamp with a Musical Fidelity M6PRX power amplifier, with Vandersteen Treo speakers; sound to die for.

If you can afford one, I think there is nothing that can touch Audio Research preamps.

I had an Audire power amp for years, and then had a Bryston 3B-ST power amp for a few years, and I can tell you that the Musical Fidelity amplifier, which is only $3500, sounds as good as most amplifiers in the $8000+ price range. It is a definite improvement over the more expensive Bryston, which itself was pretty good. IMO the MF amp is a heck of an amp at a great price (and it puts out over 300 watts per channel at 4 ohms).

Consult Galen Carol in San Antonio TX. At one time, he was/is an AZ dealer/retailer.

norma wrote:

Commsysman,

Vandersteens are on my short list along with the Zu Druids. But why not an Audio Research amp too to match their preamp? And a dumb question (I'm pretty much a newbie), will this setup work for av as well or do I need a processor for that?

Audio Research maks only two-channel equipment. If you want more channels than a 2.1 setup, you need an A/V receiver or processor.

If you want multi-channel, I suggest that you consider the Cambridge Audio 651R receiver, which is very good and is only $2000. Most A/V receivers are absolute crap, IMO, even some of the more expensive models. Lots of bells and whistles and mediocre sound quality.

I don't want an Audio Research amplifier, because their really good ones all use power tubes, which I don't want; been there, done that. Poor reliability and poor bass response in most cases. The ones with enough power are also huge and run too hot. Their solid-state amps are not very good IMO. I think they are half-hearted about solid-state and it shows. My Musical Fidelity M6PRX is a wonderful amp, and it only cost $3500. Love it.